A Twist in Time
by Cyclone-wolf
Summary: A story based on an alternate timeline shifting from near the beginning of "Wolf Quest.":  With the truth of her heritage now revealed, Aleu went so angry that she ran away and found herself in a whole new adventure across space and time.
1. Prologue

**A Twist in Time**

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**_Prologue_

"I knew there was something wrong with me," words of anger can be heard for quite a distance away from the wrecked boat lying there on the beach. Standing there on the deck were two figures of canines. "Aleu, there's nothing wrong with you. You have a proud heritage," the most robust one spoke, this one also seemed upset, but it was more of a frustration.

"Oh! Sure," the female snapped. "A proud heritage, yeah, right. It almost killed me," she thought to herself, as she recalled that she was almost shot dead just that noon. Earlier in the day, Aleu was enjoying her routine of playing with the orphaned polar bear cubs; that was when a hunter mistook her for a wolf and aimed her with his deadly rifle. Not having seen such a weapon before, she ran toward the human, wishing that he would adopt her as a pet. If it wasn't for her father's rescue, she wouldn't be standing here by now.

Normally, Aleu should be thankful, but not this time, not after everything that has happened. Furthermore, to mention 'the proud heritage' did only hurt her feeling more.

With one quick gaze, the two looked really like wolves, only a few traits of dogs could be seen in the male, and almost none in the one named Aleu. Anyone can tell that they were father and daughter.

Before the incident, Aleu was indeed very proud of her appearance. She was proud because it gave her swiftness, and elegance. She was proud because its colouring suited her so well. But more than anything else, she was proud of it because it had made her the only one in the whole litter that resembled her father in many ways. She had so many reasons to love her father, not only for he was the great Balto who saved Nome, but the fact was that he was the one looking after her all the time, since she wasn't adopted as a pup, and that created an unbreakable bond between them. What had happened forced her to question this look of herself, was it worth all the pride she had had toward them for so long?

"Your mother is a purebred husky...," Balto tried to say something but ended up choking upon the next words about to leave his mouth.

Seeing him trailed off like that, Aleu pushed him harder for the other side of the truth, "Then, what are you?"

By now, Balto himself had run headfirst into a deadend. He, now, found no way other than to reveal the truth; "Being different might hurt, but it can hurt more if I keep this any longer," he quietly thought. Balto, then, faced his daughter, mentally gritted his teeth, and said, "I am the one who is part wolf."

The fact rocked Aleu to the core. If this was true, why had her father she loved so much been hiding this from her for so long? Pondering over this question, the only thing that Aleu could stammer was, "How could this happen?"

Stepping closer to his daughter, the father made another attempt to explain, "Look, Aleu, my dad was a husky who had pups with a wolf..."

"Great! My grandmother was a wild animal! Did the wolf teach you how to know when a human wants to kill you?" Aleu didn't give him enough time to finish, all the frustration and anger prevented her from doing so.

As for Balto himself, only mentioning his long gone mother lightened him a little, but enough for a slight smile to show; he further said, "I was accidentally separated from her when I was young, so..." The hero paused for a moment as he was recollecting his bitter past, "I never spent much time with... the wolf. But I remember that she was as white as snow. And she had this warm voice that made me feel safe." After another break, Balto continued to when Boris the goose took him in.

"So why didn't you tell me this before?" Aleu asked, in a softer tone as she somehow felt for her father.

Even not knowing if Aleu would understand his point or not, Balto didn't want to risk lying anymore, he expressed the words from his very heart, "Because, I wanted to protect you."

"Protect me? From what, from the fact that no human will ever want me because I'm part wild animal?" Aleu asked and turned away toward the door. She had always been a brave young canine, and this time, despite her sorrow, she still didn't want her father to see her tears. Without turning back, she questioned again, "And what about my brothers and sister? They've got wolf in them too. Why did humans want them?" Since the day of adoption, Aleu had always believed that it was all due to her luck; but, then, everything fell that its reason was really her wild look. This provoked her anger more and more as she thought about it. She was blindly angry at the one who gave her the appearance, her father, indeed.

"Because they don't look it," Balto let out a sigh, "and you do," he continued, with a faked smile he was forced to make.

However, Aleu didn't take this so well; after thinking all the matters back and forth, she yelled, "It's not fair. I hate you!". And with that, she jumped off the boat, then she ran away... bound for Nome. Even when Balto tried to call her back, all he could hear was, "Leave me alone!"

Aleu ran and ran into the streets of Nome, making her way to her mother, who she can cry it all out; the truth that she'd heard didn't break her heart as deep and painful as the truth that her father had been lying to her for age.


	2. Chapter 1: Gone Missing

_Chapter 1: Gone Missing_

The sun had already set by now, what left to shone the way were of the moon and the stars up high in the sky. Through darkness, ran Aleu, toward the glimmering light of the town Nome not so far away. Though the street of the quiet town, she ran with her vision blurred from tears. Suddenly, something grabbed her attention; she halted to get a better look. There, inside an ordinary house along the way, was a silvery globe. Its lustrous surface casted some kind of pure white light on everything in the building. The calm glow attracted Aleu closer and closer. Unwittingly, she crept toward the unknown, inch by inch.

A bark from her behind brought her back to conscious. She turned back to found a red and white husky; it was clear that he was totally shocked, both for a wolf in his house and the mysterious thing behind the wild animal. Aleu fast recognized the dog as one of her siblings, "Kaon?"

Her brother, soon, remembered her as well, and said in a not so welcoming way, "Aleu! It's you. What do you think you're doing in my house?" Before she had a chance to explain, Kaon made an order, "Get out!"

"I just want to know what this thing is. Maybe...," Aleu mentioned the bright sphere.

"It's in my house, and it's none of your business. If I want to know, I will be the one who examine it, not you," at this he barked again, loudly, in order to get his sister out.

The female tried again, as she was so eager to learn about the thing, "Kaon, please, I'm your little s..."

Without waiting for the last word, Kaon answered coldly, "But I'm not your brother." Despite the ice-coldness of the statement, it burnt Aleu down to her heart, "Why...?" she thought quietly to herself. As if to hurt her more, the husky added, "When do I consider a wild animal my sister?" This was over enough for Aleu to handle, she immediately broke to tears. She walked toward her brother, again, pleading for acceptance, "But we share the same litter. We played together on that beach, chasing Papa all the way around."

Kaon himself didn't even seem to care about that, he concerned more about his own thought, "So you won't leave easily, will you? Fine, I'll let you check that thing out, closer than you have ever wished." With that, Kaon bared his teeth, and moved forward. Aleu, not wanting to fight, backed off. Again and again, the two siblings stepped like this until the sister was cornered just two feet away from the mysterious sphere.

With fear of the unknown, Aleu whimpered; her legs shook uncontrollably under her. Kaon oversaw that, and yelled loudly, "You want to see it closely, I've already let you. Now look! Take a great long look at it, and tell me what it is!" The aggressive bark he just made called his allies nearby. As Balto's son, Kaon was crowned leader of the gang by his friends. They raced to their boss's to see what's going on.

"Ooh! Boss, there's a wolf in your house. Look at her shaking," one of them laughed. Soon, all had arrived, most attention was on the glowing ball, but many still went to Aleu.

The certain husky smirked, "Glad you guys come. Whoever catches me the pest have all my lunch tomorrow." At first, every dog in the room prepared to sprint, but were forced to think twice as the globe glow more intensely for a second. Aleu, being closest to the light, was also shocked, but didn't dared moving away. She knew all these dogs, they were her former playmates; but now, they all treated her like an unwanted wolf, and were trading her for some food.

Realizing that they won't get nearer to the sphere, Aleu cowered to hide behind it. Her brother, unlike other dogs, dared toward her hiding place, and jerked her out of there. The greyish canine yelped in mere pain, "Please, brother, it hurts."

"I gave you one last chance: just check that thing out for me," with that said, Kaon yanked Aleu by the back of her neck, and threw her at the sphere. At the very second that she touched it, the object flared brightly and vanished together with the female hybrid, right before every couple of eyes on the watch.


	3. Chapter 2: Out in Nowhere

_Chapter 2: Out in Nowhere_

The globe emerged again, this time, over a place unknown even for the feminine wolf-dog, who fell out down from the sphere, at about a meter above the ground. The weather was rather hot and humid here, telling Aleu that she was nowhere in or near her home in Alaska. With a smack on the rock-hard soil, she slowly got up to find that she was now with a pain in one of her legs; she must have sprained it when she dropped. The wolf-dog looked around, expecting her brother to be somewhere in sight, but she didn't see him; in fact, she couldn't see anyone.

It took her some time before Aleu began to walked, hoping for some dogs to come by. With the pain still stinging in her ankle, minutes of walk felt to her like an hour. As she started to tire out, she heard a long loud screech at a distance to her right; she quickly turned to witness a small bat-like creature chasing a gigantic dragonfly flying in a swift up-and-down manner, and with the last drive across her face, the animal caught and ate its prey.

However, the lost canine wasn't there to see the predator enjoying his meal. Seeing this creature made her afraid that she wouldn't be able to go home from this strange world; she was so terrified that she picked up her pace and scanned around for even a little trace of any familiar scent, but, to her frustration, she found none.

In such a state of hopelessness, Aleu began to weep, everything was beyond her wit to solve; she was now lost and all alone. She started running frantically, around every tree and through every bush on her way, with a dangling wish that the next one she look would lay the path to where she came from. Despite her last trial, she still failed. The young canine slowed down to catch some air. She was now exhausted, besides, she was getting thirsty; the hot weather was draining her out so fast that she must find water as soon as she could.

Fortunately, after some minutes passed, Aleu saw a small lake just ahead. Without very little hesitation, the lost dog headed for it. The quiet atmosphere calmed her down a bit. She took a deep, deep breath, and after a long sigh, she went for a drink. She slowly lapped up the water, satisfying her thirst. After a little drink, she felt all much better, but didn't stop drinking. The cooling liquid seemed to have eased her down considerably.

All of a sudden, with a glimpse at a strange shadow beside her, Aleu coughed up the water and nearly choked herself in a gasp. She backed off, her body trembled as she saw whose the shadow was; it was a lightly-built lizard with the height slightly more than hers and some characters that resembled those of a bird. The reptile was also taken aback by her quick reaction; but seeing that it came solely from fear rather than aggression, it laughed heavily.

"I have never seen any uglier Cynodont. Look at your pointy... ears!" the creature said, in a squeaky manner, and stepped in to observe her ears. The voice of it revealed to be of a male, despite the high-pitched tone. Aleu jumped aside, avoiding the scouting snout of the animal, and growled in an attempt to defend herself. "Ooh! Come on, just let me take a look, it won't hurt," the weird-looking being went bouncing up and down, excited to see a new species. The wolf-dog tried with all her best to get away. But the inquisitive squeaker's long legs seemed to be an advantages to him, allowing him to block any path Aleu turned to. Within a second, the mammal sprinted toward the back and ran for her life, for she didn't believe that the reptile would stop only at examining her.

With a laughter, the ancient being leapt after her, "You wanna run, huh? Know that I never lose in the game of tag?"

Aleu was faster by a second to reach a bush nearby; she quickly disappeared inside. Her chaser arrived to find that he was too big to reach her now; but curiosity still had the better of him, so he shook the bush, hoping that the canine would come out. When it didn't work, he pretended walking away; it didn't work, either. Running out of patience, he approached the plant again, with an intention in his head. He began rocking the tree again, along with his pecking muzzle clipping it down, stem by stem.

"Fighting a tree is a weird way of hunting, Bard," a sound could be heard from margin of the wood, it was from another reptile, standing at the height of a normal human.

"Sotara, come here, come here," the swift one, whose name appeared to be Bard, yipped and bounced, "you must have a look at this." He lowered his head to see if Aleu was still in there, crying and trembling.

As called, the animal walked forward, eager to know what his hyperactive fellow was talking about. He, then, saw the wolf-dog in a panic. "You, little monster! You terrorize her," he playfully scolded his friend.

"Boy, Sotara. Don't be overstating. I'm just trying to have a little fun with her, but she just won't listen."

"Look, you should notice how frightened she is," the bigger of the two started to get more serious. Seeing a little game of himself interrupted by his large friend, Bard let out a small sigh, "All right, I was so fed up with failures I have had with hunting. And I saw her; I was having fun teasing her, until you come."

Sotara bore an expression of concern on his face, and spoke, "So, you haven't got anything since the morning." The lean friend nodded, and give Sotara a pleading look, as if asking for something to eat. The massive lizard gave a smile, walked to the wet muddy soil of the lake. Then, with a few swift moves of the jaws, he managed to catch two weird-looking fish, and placed them behind him.

"I think you might want these," spoke the fisher to his waiting friend.

Bard ran toward the food, happily spoke to Sotara, "Yippee! I want nothing more. You're my best pal ever, really!" Seeing how merry Bard was, the big company quickly got to the point, asking the pleased animal to give up the strange creature he had trapped in the bush for he himself to take further care.

Without having to think twice, Bard smiled from ear to ear, "Look at you, 'let me take care of the mammal,' you speak like you are less terrifying than me. I bet you another two fish she won't come out to you any time soon. Anyway, I have my meal to deal with. Thanks again, pal." He, then, grabbed the fish and prepared to walk away.

"Psst, hey. You there. Are you hurt?" Sotara stuck his snout through some outer branches, so he could see Aleu clearer. But, the wolf-dog didn't seem to appreciate the worry, the snout full of serrated teeth made her hair stand. She whimpered and backed off, in a trial to sneak away from the far side of the vegetation.

"Go on... Come out and get eaten alive!" the sentence was then followed by a familiar squeaky laughter. Aleu was, once again, caged inside the bush, crying her fear out. "Bard! What do you think you're doing!"

"Winning my bet, of course." Then, the slender animal, lying just behind the canine with his fish in front of him, started sputtering things out randomly: mostly some jokes intended to please himself and Sotara. He just couldn't stop talking. Despite the pleasure he was having, neither Sotara nor Aleu enjoyed a bit. The human-sized stood up, finally. He pulled one of the fish from his chatty friend, and sent it the farthest he could into the foliage.

"Hey! That's mine!"

"Well, let's consider that a lesson for picking on a helpless mammal."

"That's not fair, Sotara. I'm going for real." With that, Bard picked his now only fish and left.

Now, the way was clear, Aleu didn't even take a sniff at the dead swimmer. She slipped her way out as quickly as she could. By the time Sotara's eyes were back on the bush, she had already gone.

The mammal ran and ran, without looking properly where she was going. There, right in front of the dog, flew a small stream that fed the great lake on her right. However, the river was a little too wide for her to jump all the way across. And on her left, laid a mysterious jungle; not knowing what would be waiting inside, she hesitated going in there. So she turned back, hoping for mercy from the following lizard.

With a lost mammal at hand, Sotara was so afraid that she would do something that would end up with herself getting hurt; he rushed after Aleu, and, at the same time, spoke soothing words to calm her down. As the canine stopped to face him, he noticed a dark patch lurking in the water just behind her; and it was moving closer. Through his familiarity, he could quickly recognize it as a Rutiodon - a large crocodilian. His heart raced, he just got to do something fast, but how could he help an animal that didn't even trust him?

Sotara didn't have much time to think this over, the crocodile, considering Aleu as a meal, lunged for the unaware wolf-dog. With one quick dash, the lizard dove in for a rescue. He yanked Aleu out of the reach of the aquatic predator's lethal jaws. Fortunately for the canine, she was so shocked that she couldn't even move, thus she was now safe.

"Damn you, dinosaur! I don't mind that sick oracle! It doesn't matter even if your kind will rule this world for the next aeon, you still have no right stealing my food!" the marine reptile shouted, yelled, and swore angrily at Sotara. However, it didn't dare coming on land, for it was too clumsy there and it knew that well. When it had had enough, it swam away to hide itself on the riverbed, waiting for another prey.

Sotara put Aleu down reluctantly, afraid that she would once again ran away. When Aleu took some fast steps away from him, he was so frustrated. But, he, then, found that she wasn't running away, she just wanted to leave some distance between them. "So, you won't run?"

Aleu said nothing, she sat down on the ground and that answered everything. Sotara smiled, and said, "You know? I think you should go to my cave, you deserve a rest for what you've been through today." Aleu remained still, but cocked her head a little, along with a questioning glare. Without hearing a word from her made him curious, "You can talk, I won't bite. Or can't you?"

With Aleu still not moving nor speaking, Sotara, with another invitation, started walking back to his cave, slowly. The wolf-dog had nowhere to go, so she hesitantly followed. Every four to five minutes, the dinosaur would look over his shoulder to check if the mammal was still there; and with every time he did so, he gave Aleu a gentle smile. This calmed Aleu down a great deal, and after half the way to the shelter, she was cooled enough to speak, "So..., you really are a dinosaur?"

Sotara halted, cocked his head a little before asking, "Of course! I am... You aren't from around here, are you?"

"I wish I could tell you where I belong... But, I'm all confused now, I don't even have an idea: this is just like a whole different world to me."

Having heard the words, the dinosaur, now, felt great sympathy toward the mammal. He tried to find a way to cheer her up, by encouraging Aleu to keep up with his pace, so that he could give her a brief explanation about the place she was in.

"To confirm again, yes, I'm a dinosaur, a Herrerasaurus to be precise. And the talkative one you've met is Bard, the Coelophysis," he, then, paused for a moment to think about what to say next. After some seconds, he realized that telling her about his world would also be a great idea, "We are now in the Valley of the Moon, the only evergreen place located just south of Mother Pangaea's heart. It is said that Mother Pangaea herself is surrounded by the great ocean Panthalassa. You see, I have never been to there before, these are some parts of the old myth flowing down from our ancestors..."

Further story of the mythologies and legends took most of the time walking back. All Aleu did know was that they kept her from thinking too widely, having something to focus on eased her down a lot. Further conversation slowly made her trust in the reptile started to grow, little by little. And by the time they arrived the cave, she already found herself riding on the dinosaur's back.

"Nothing sounds familiar to me, really. I know no places like Gondwana or Tethys. And the continents aren't all-connected, as far as I know..., or at least, in... my world...," the canine's words trailed off as the truth became clearer before her.

Sotara let Aleu down on the rocky ground of his shelter, "Here, have some rest... Uh, what should I call you? Do you have a name?"

The wolf-dog had just noticed that she hadn't introduced herself yet, so she did it in a brief, "It's Aleu. I'm a dog from Nome, a little town just south of the northern ice cap. The problem is I couldn't find my way back now." She sniffed back tears as she mentioned the last fact.

The dinosaur couldn't help hushing the sad mammal, "Calm now, Aleu. It will be all right, trust me. Well, this world doesn't have ice caps. I don't really know where you came from, but I'll try my best to help figure that out and bring you home. If it turns out that you are from another world, I still have a little idea for you. But now, it looks like you have to stay here for a while." He, then, let Aleu lay down in an inner corner of his humble abode. Though he needed more information about how she ended up here, he had to wait until tomorrow, for Aleu was, now, sleeping like a log.


	4. Chapter 3: The Missing Daughter

_Chapter 3: The Missing Daughter_

Balto's sleep was interrupted by the muffling around him, he tried to keep his eyes shut, anyway. When, his blanket was taken off of him, he couldn't bear sleeping anymore, he got up to see what was going on, and, as he thought, he saw the two polar bear cubs, combing his entire boat for something.

Muk and Luk were two young bears. They cannot remember their past so well. How they became alone with only each other left was still a secret. All they knew was that their lonely lives ended when Balto and Boris decided to raise them up. Although sometimes annoyed, Balto still managed to bear with them, for they were his only friends while the whole town loathed him for his heritage. Though people had changed their way looking at him after the diphtheria outbreak, the town hero still stuck to his boat, with his old beloved friends.

"Boris is out there on the deck, isn't he?" Balto asked with a slight chuckle.

Muk translated his brother's mutter, "Yup! But he's kinda mad at us, so we come to see if Aleu wants to play."

Balto was taken aback by the fact that the bears couldn't find Aleu; she was always there waiting for them without exceptions. The most likely place for her to be now was her mother's house; with anxiety, he set off immediately, leaving the cubs on the boat.

The rising sun laid its light upon her closed eyelids, but Jenna wasn't ready to wake up yet, until she heard a scratch outside the window of her bedroom. Still drowsy, she slowly opened her eyes to find Balto there waiting for her, but she didn't notice the frown of worry on his face. Only after she was all awoke when she made her way out of the house to meet him did she mention the troubled look in her beloved mate's eyes.

"Balto, what's wrong?" she asked out of her naturally caring self. As soon as Balto stated their wolfish daughter's name, Jenna gasped in fear of something bad that might had happened, but her love hushed and assured her, "It's okay, Jenna. The hunter took aim at her, but we got away unharmed... Wait! She's not with you?"

"I haven't seen her for two days, she loves being with you more, I think. She may just went for a walk or something?"

Balto, considering what happened last evening, was so afraid that it wouldn't turn out so easily. As he described the incident, his mind raced to figure things out.

"We've got to find her," the red husky said once she learnt the story. However, her mate interdicted and pointed out that it should be him who took the task for it was mostly his fault this whole mess happened. Suddenly, there was a voice calling the hero's name, the speaker up on the roof seemed to be a female wolfish canine.

"You may search everywhere in Alaska and leave no stone unturned, but I don't guarantee the chance for finding her," the stranger said.

Balto was so irritated by the phrase; he hadn't even start looking for his daughter, and now this dog was like crushing his already dwindling hope. He bared his teeth and growled, "What do you mean by that?"

The reaction made the bluish-grey female cowered a bit, yet, didn't stop her at once. From the roof, she introduced herself as Glace, the wolf-dog. "I thought over and over whether I should get myself involved in this family issue. But I can't just stand and watch," she started, "Just promise not to kill me as we discuss this." Balto cooled down a bit, he nodded after a long sigh and an apology.

"Last night, Aleu really did head here," Glace stopped to hold a breath as she landed on the ground, then continued, "There was a silverly hole or something. Aleu was thrown into it, and vanished into thin air."

As if just listened to an unpleasant joke, Balto frowned and gave the feminine wolf-dog a skeptical look, "Tell me you didn't expect me to believe such a story."

The young female sighed out a little, "In fact, I knew you wouldn't do so. But, that's the truth, how else can I persuade you? Ask Kaon if you want, he was there too."

"Kaon? Then why didn't he...," Jenna was about to speak when Glace cut in, "That's because he's the one sending her in the portal." Expecting a blow from Balto from blaming his son, She crouched low and closed her eyes, but the hit didn't arrive; instead, to her and Jenna's surprise, the male wolf-dog showed some credence, and even asked Glace to tell further story...

It was while Glace was searching for some craps in a trash can, she heard a cry from behind her. When she turned to see, she saw only a black figure dashing by. She figured out from the quick glimpse and the scent that it was a female wolf, so Glace stalked after her to see what she was up to.

A bright light shining from every openings of a house on the corner took Glace by as much amazement as it did to the wolf she followed. As the wolf disappeared into the house, she herself sneaked at a window farther from the street. She discovered just then that the wolf was really Aleu, one of Balto's first litter with Jenna, so do the dog living in that house, whose name appeared to be Kaon.

Kaon came, in company with many others. Glace hid there and watched all that happened in the next ten minutes, during which she forced herself not to went for a rescue for the dogs were large in number. When everything ended, the gang dispersed. She still didn't move until she saw one of them looking in her way, its eyes flashed green under the moonlit sky. With shock, she sank herself into the dark shadow behind her and disappeared into an alley nearby...

"... and that's the story," finished Glace.

After all being told, Balto let out a long long sighed, not out of distrust, but hopelessness. All he noticed was that Kaon had grown more distant from him and Aleu since the day he was adopted, he didn't have any idea how his son become so hateful toward wolves. But that issue was not as urgent as finding his lost daughter now, so it had to wait. The worried father, then, turned to his mate and asked her to find help, especially from their children, Kaon excluded of course.

With Jenna gone, Balto said to Glace, "Thanks for your help, but I can't take the fact that we're out of ways without giving it a try."

"Okay... Then, while you try, I'll do my best finding more help. We are dealing with a supernatural thing right now, I have to find someone capable for this," Glace suggested and made her way into the wood. With another thanks, Balto, too, went on his way...


	5. Chapter 4: Incoming Trouble

_Chapter 4: Incoming Trouble_

As the sun reached its peak around the prehistoric noon, combined with the highly moist air, the surroundings went too much for Aleu to carry on her sleep. She got up and shook her sleepiness away. But, to her surprise, she found Sotara enjoying the 'fresh wind' at the cave entrance, speaking to himself "Ahh! How I love winter breeze!"

"Winter! What would summer look like here, I doubt," Aleu quietly muttered. The words weren't unheard to Sotara's keen ears, but he didn't care the comment, all he did care now was that the lost canine was already awake and quite happier than the day before.

"Hi there... I see you rise and shine today. So, are you ready to tell your side of the story now? The sooner you talk, the earlier we know what to do."

The wolf-dog couldn't agree more, so, despite her sorrow, she began, "I think my world is some ages ahead from now, in my world there is no dinosaurs and humans ruled the earth. I'm...," until this point, Aleu wasn't sure how to define herself; everything was still a blur for the truth had just been revealed and she hadn't accepted it so well. Then, she found another way around, "My father is a wolf-dog, and my mother was a husky..."

Sotara was confused, two animals of different kinds having children? This wasn't like anything he had been through, "So you are a wolf-dog-husky hybrid, am I right?"

Aleu's ears flatted down on her head, "This gonna take a whole day," thought she. "Well, wolf, dog, and husky are... umm... like the same creature. The division is only that dogs live with humans in their houses, humans feed them and take care of them. And wolves live freely in the wild...," the female explained. But Sotara, unable to hold his question, cut in, "and..., husky?"

"That's a kind of dogs." With herself defining wolves and dogs today, the female realized that she really shouldn't had been so angry at her father; who cared being a wolf-dog, wolves and dogs are the same after all, she said that herself. This put her at enough ease to crack a smile, the first one she had made since she entered this different world.

For now, the species issue was clear, and the canine continued her story, "I didn't know my father was a mix until a few days ago. The truth revealed when a hunter tried to kill me for my wolfish appearance. Papa told me that later in the evening after he rescued me. I'm still not sure why he had been hiding my true bloodline..."

"I'm sure he must have a good reason. He must love you so dear as I can tell," Sotara soothed, without realizing that he was making Aleu more upset. The brownish mammal sniffed and closed her eyes as her tears falling down her furry cheeks, "To my foolishness, I went so angry at him. I ran away, and the last words I told him was I hated him. I shouldn't have..."

"Calm now, Aleu. Words spoken out of anger means nothing. He would understand that, I know it," comforted the dinosaur. Sotara urged her to tell further about how she really came to this land. The mammalian fellow slowly described about how Kaon saw her, and what he did, "He was a good brother. I didn't know he would do such a thing."

The fact snapped something in the Herrerasaurus; siblicide, to Sotara, was an unforgivable guilt. And if there was anything he hated more than Kaon's act itself, it would be the reason he did it. However, he let Aleu tell her part of the story with his own ire pressed down...

The two polar bears didn't stop muffling since Balto got back to the boat, they kept asking where Aleu was and whether she would come and play with them. Anything Balto said didn't seem to be understood at all. "Enough already! She isn't going to play, okay? She's lost, gone, missing," yelled the Russian goose, Boris, out of his annoyance.

As Muk and Luk started to cry, the wolf-dog gave them a few kind words and set off again, leaving his avian company with the cubs. Boris watched as Balto ran away to continue his search, he noticed that the canine couldn't walked straight by now; and that worried him so much. Since the first day he met Balto, he hadn't seen him so restless, it was now two days without a break, and even the great Balto couldn't stand this for any more than a week. He could fall sick, lost or worse. "Oy! My boychik, I've got to do something," he spoke to himself, and spent a few seconds thinking, then he turned to the bears, "Well, get up! Let's go find Aleu..."

"Dang that Balto! I've got to find something for him to eat, before he starves himself to death," Glace dug in the third and the last trash can in the alley, but ended up finding nothing, "It used to be easier, I swear." It was very dark already, this was the last alley she could visit; after that, she must be out in the wood. And there she went, she jogged her way to her favourite tree for a sleep, but something unexpected happened. A male wolf with yellowish fur almost bumped into her by accident. the sudden brake he made slid him nearer to the female, their noses almost touched. Both went wide-eyed in a mixture of surprise and shock.

"Gl... Glace..., I'm sorry," the yellow wolf stammered, at almost the time, Glace barked, "Topaz!"

For a moment of disbelief, their mouth were agape. They had just heard their own names from each other, they didn't even know each other yet, or so they thought. They both questioned, again, synchronously, "How do you know my name?"

They opened their mouths, trying to answer. But on noticing the other doing the same, they shut it close. "Uh... You go first," Topaz said politely.

"How come don't I know there is a wolf like you roaming around?"

"Well, umm... I'm sorry for the crash, I was too much in panic." the male apologized. Having listened to that, Glace smiled, she had never seen such a creature scared before, in fact, she never had even a glimpse of imagination about how a frightened wolf should look like. "Call me crazy, but while I was about to sleep, a silver globe appeared before me...," Topaz explained, but couldn't finish the sentence for Glace had cut in, "Really? You saw everything from the beginning?"

Topaz was a little bit surprised by the fact that Glace was showing attention, moreover, she even seemed to believe it; he cocked his head a little, "Do females always have such a strange interest...? Yes, I saw everything." The female hybrid asked if she could go with him to his cave and examined the mysterious sphere herself. The yellow canine cooperated quite well, but they found absolutely nothing by the time they arrived the den.

Through the darkness of the night, the male wolf was generous enough to escort Glace back to her place, along the way, she told him about Balto's problem, and ask him if he could be a helping paw. Topaz agreed without a second thought, he was too willing to help to the extent that Glace thought there was something behind the young wolf's smiling face. But one more helper was better than none; besides, their conversation revealed that Topaz did know something about supernature. So she just set her doubt aside for now...

After a few pokes she gave to the raw flesh on the floor, Aleu pushed it away and stared at her reptilian friend, "Are you sure I can eat this?"

"Sure! Why not? Give it a try and you may find you like it. Besides, you have to eat something anyway," Sotara encouraged, using his snout to nudge the meat back in front of the mammal. When Aleu was about to open her mouth for the first bite, a voice rang up from another side of the cave, "Yeah! I heard Cynodonts eat five times more than we dinosaurs do."

It was Bard, with one newly caught fish of his own; he raised his prey up high in the air and gobbles it all up at once, "Look! I've managed to catch my own food," he squeaked in a delightful manner.

"Congratulations. But you still owe Aleu two fish as I recall," the larger reptile said, before turning to the canine to ask if she preferred fish as her meal, instead. The squeaker turned his head away from the speaker, letting out a small grunt as he was doing so. Seconds later, he approached Sotara, talking, "In case you forgot it already: first, the deal was made between you and me; second, I have just learnt to...," further talk went unattended.

The Herrerasaurus, who didn't mind all the words so much, simply cut Bard off, "Great, so you've got a chance to practice your brand new skill." Having heard that, the Coelophysis screamed in frustration and made his way to the river, possibly for the two fish. Not enough time for Aleu to settle down and try the meat, the thin lizard ran back, breathing fast with his eyes widened. He must have met something, anyone could tell. Not waiting for to be asked, Bard shakingly uttered, "Strangers..., two of them..., heading this way!"

Within the matter of seconds, sounded the conversations and footsteps of the two. From inside his cave, Sotara listened; there was a voice of a female, "I know you had issue with him, but please, be polite, he is our brightest hope now."

"I know what I'm doing, you just keep your mouth shut," another growled. The cave-dweller realized from the sound and tone of the latter as Naga, but the female one was unrecognized. Despite their quarrelling past, he went outside to welcome the guests, ordering Bard to take Aleu further inside. And he was the first to greet, "Long time no see, Naga." He continued, moving his gaze to the female, "I'm Sotara, and you are...," the sentence trailed off as a question.

Gazing on her for a while, waiting for her to introduce herself, Sotara had to admit that she was quite a beautiful creature: not too light and fragile, yet not too robust, her elegance matched her dark-brownish skin perfectly. And the most beautiful of all are her eyes. They are so full of life... The male Herrerasaurus had never felt anything like this in his entire life, he felt there were something special about this girl. Or was it love?

But as she was about to talk, Naga interrupted, "I don't come here for some chit-chats, so let's get to the point. My pack is under attack. Those Saurosuchuses are large in number. So, I want you to stop living indifferently, join me, and fight those monsters out." Although the purpose of coming here was to find help, but Naga's tone was more like ordering his minions. He was too proud of a leader to lower himself even for a little. He stopped for a while, thinking to himself; this was not Sotara, I knew him, normally he would let his guests in by now; he must be hiding something. "You don't mean to leave your guests standing throughout the whole talk, do you?"

Sotara eyed into his cave to see if Bard had already taken Aleu to the back, but things didn't go the way he planned: Aleu was still there, running around as the Coelophysis chased her. If he let the dinosaurs in, that would be a problem for either of his housemates for sure. For this, he was hesitant to say the invitation. To his rudeness, Naga walked past Sotara into the cave, despite his female consultant's objection. As a reaction to such an invading act, the brown Herrerasaurus obstructed, and growled defensively.

Unfortunately, that was not enough to prevent Naga from seeing two animals of other species inside, "I see you have pests here. Why won't you step aside and let me take care of them?" With that, he pushed the cave owner into the cave and walked to the mammal, who, now, froze in place inspite of Bard's trial to pull her to the secret back exit.

Sotara wouldn't let the intruder any closer to his friends, he, once again, blocked the way, this time growling low as a warning. "Stay away from them, Naga. I warn you."

"I told you to step aside. Don't you know that one day milk-suckers like this w...,"

"None of your business!"

"Haven't your parents taught you that creatures of other kinds are enemies? Or, oh right, is it this silly idea of silly alphas to befriend every animal in sight that destroyed the greatest pack two years ago?"

"My alpha, please, stop it," the watching female broke up.

"Shut up, Nebbia!"

For Sotara, there was nothing more needed to burst his anger off. He may not be lucky enough to see his parents alive, but, with all his heart, he loved them. And no one should ever deride them in such a manner. This lone Herrerasurus was running out of patience, but trying to stay calm, "Go back, Naga."

Unfortunately, such simple words weren't enough to stop the alpha. Having noticed the other's ire, he still continued nagging about how little of a patient dinosaur Sotara was to get angry so easily. Looking at the irritator directly in the eyes, the solitary lizard repronounced, "Out! Naga! I won't say for a third time!"

"What will you do? Kill me? Now, for the last time, will you join my pack, or not? So I can teach you some mann..."

Sotara didn't wait for the sentence to end, he dashed in giving one swift strike, and the alpha's leg was gored. Everything was so quick that Nebbia had no time to alarm her leader. Naga slowly rose, eyes wide opened, expecting for more blows to come, but, to his surprise, Sotara had ceased his attack. "I'll take that for a no," he spoke as he turned and motioned a go-back signal to the female dinosaur. Then, the Herrerasaurus, filled up with shame and wrath, stomped his way back.

Before Nebbia left, she came nearer to apologize and explained how uneasy she felt about the situation. Sotara, instead of heading immediately back into his cave, he stood there and watched until she had gone out of his sight.

"So... you have a crush on her," rang a voice from the inner darkness.

The Herrerasaurus only looked at the speaker without saying anything, for he himself was still not sure. He took a few steps, heading inside the cave to check if his friends were all right. Somehow, he could not resist the urge to glance to where Nebbia ran off. Was he hoping to see her again? Was a part of him really fell for this animal? He was not certain. So, he shook the thought away and went back into his shelter. "Are you okay, there?"


	6. Chapter 5: The Conflict

_Chapter 5: The Conflict_

"Platinum! Platinum, where are you!" sound of the angry alpha rocked the whole mountain side the pack used as a shelter. And, there, slowly walked out of his place was Naga's younger brother, Platinum. He stretched once to drive his drowsiness away before approaching his sibling as called and greeted, "Not a good morning for you, I see."

Platinum was a good-looking Herrerasaurus with the skin of ash-grey colour. His muscular body signified his great strength which can be used to take down every of his own kind, every but one - Sotara. The two were about the same age. The fact that Sotara was once a member of the pack meant they had met each other a lot. However, their meetings weren't in so much of a friendly way. The grey Herrerasaurus always took his brother side whenever there were conflicts between Sotara and Naga; many times, this led to a duel between him and the, now, lone dinosaur. Even after Sotara segregated, there were still one or two face-offs in occurrence. To his memory, although Sotara always tried to avoid the clashes, he hardly won at all. Maybe, that was the reason he still possessed the drive to beat this enemy.

An angry animal snapped at anything in sight, and Naga is just the case, "Morning! When will you learn to wake up early! How can I let you take control of the pack if you are so damn irresponsible?"

"Come now, I'm tired. Yesterday, I helped you drive off those land crocodiles, I want to have my rest."

"Yesterday was yesterday...!"

The younger Herrerasaurus realized that he had to do something before his brother went mad, so he yelled with all his attempt to overcome the leader's scolding, "Okay! Okay! What's the problem now?" The harsh conversation between them caught the attention of the whole pack members. Having noticed this, the alpha and Platinum calmed down a bit.

"Come with me, brother. I've got a task for you..."

The grumble of the wolf-dog's stomach woke him up late in the morning. The feeling of cold planks against his skin forced him to rise. Everything was still a blur for Balto, the last time he remembered, he was searching the wood for Aleu, and that he felt a sharp pain piercing inside his abdomen. Despite the fact that he had just up, Balto was so exhausted, it was as if he had run miles. The great hero tried to shook all the tire off, but ended up just enough for him to keep his eyes open. And what presented in front of him pleased him quite well; it was a large coil of sausages. The sight and the smell made his belly growl more, so without hesitation, the hybrid gobbled it all up fast. It was cold from being in the air for the whole night, but the canine just ignore that for as long as his hunger was satisfied.

Sounded a voice from below the deck, "Are you sure he will be happy with me around here?"

"I told you it's okay! If you're kind enough to carry him all the way back here, it is totally unlike him not to be happy," answered another voice that Balto recognized as Glace's.

The male wolf-dog went down to where the voices came from. There, he found Glace having conversations about him with a wolf; however, both of them hadn't noticed him yet. To indicate his presence, Balto intentionally lay all his weight on one of his feet, so that the wood would creak. As thought, the two youngers turned to see him smiling slightly at them; "Where was I last night?"

Glace and Topaz looked at each other for a brief moment before the female decided to explained, "Last night,..."

Through blizzard, echoed a female speaking from behind a large conifer, "I'm getting hopeless now. That thing looks nothing like those I've ever seen. How can we get Aleu back?"

"I don't know, either. For the best I can recall, there is a myth among wolves that silverly abyss appears from the will of either great beings of the past or the future. No one had seen it for generations. I'm pretty sure that there'll be something historical happen soon," a juvenile male answer, from his voice, it was surprising that a wolf as young as him would know this much of the legend.

As they started to walk out of the hazy area, their figures became clearer. Written on the female's face was some sort of disbelief, "Come now, I don't believe in such things. And for something historical, it was two years ago that things went historical here."

The male canine just shrugged, but, right then, his nose caught something in the air, "Shh... Glace, we are not alone out here, be careful!"

Glace, on the other hand, didn't react in the same manner. After she sniffed the same scent her newly-made friend, Topaz, got, she felt worried, instead. She knew whose it was, it was Balto's. By this late, not to mention the chilling blizzard, he was meant to stay on his boat. Without a weakest reluctance, Glace sprinted toward the town hero.

And there he was, lying motionless on the snow, curling himself in an attempt to keep himself warm. He must be out in search for his daughter, but ended up too tired to carry himself further because of his restlessness. The great canine was still breathing, but wouldn't stand until morning in this condition for the wind was gusting more and more strongly. Soon after Glace arrived, Topaz made it there too, and what he saw made him couldn't help pitying the wolf-dog. Although not knowing the lying one, the yellow wolf didn't wait to slipped his body under Balto's and lifted him up. He turned to Glace and yelled against the blustering sound, "We have to take him out of here!"

Telling the male wolf that she knew where to take the unconscious hero to, Glace led the way back to the Balto's home - the boat. As they got there, they found Boris the old goose walking back and forth, looking toward the wood from time to time. It was clear that he was being anxious for quite a while. So, without a doubt, the gander welcomed the two rescuers happily; after he set Balto under his blanket, Boris even asked them to share the room for the chilling night. However, Topaz, considering himself somewhat of a stranger, was more comfortable in a dark room under the deck, no matter how the goose convinced him...

"Thank you two for your kindness," Balto spoke after a long while listening, then, he looked at the male juvenile, "I'm Balto." This took the yellow wolf aback for a moment; he had shared a shelter with the great Balto for the whole night, but no one mentioned that until now. Personally, Topaz had adored this heroic figure for a long time, a loner who became a dog of legend, the story of him was a great inspiration. To boot, his idol was actually thanking him personally. What he liked the most was maybe the hero's character, Balto's voice was warming and sincere, he surely was not a dog that swelled with pride. It took him a while to be able to introduce himself, "I'm Topaz. And I... I'm sorry about your daughter, I'd be so glad to be some help."

As for Glace, she recalled from the conversations they had the night before that the wolf did have some clues about they were after, quickly supported the idea. And after another brief discussion, they managed to persuade the legendary dog to agree as well...

By the next morning in the Triassic valley, the three residents of the cave was already awake. Sotara, the Herrerasaurus, was about to leave for a meal. "Take care of Aleu for me, Bard. She's new here," the large dinosaur commanded, but in a friendly way.

"Yeah, yeah! She's new here. Hey, let me tell you something, Sotara. I am not here to babysit a lost cynodont or whatever-you-call-her. You'd rather go now, we're starving as you can see."

Sotara didn't mind the Coelophysis's complaint much, he knew this little fellow too well. He was pretty certain that Aleu would be all right with Bard around. Besides, the two animals was getting along, unlike their first meeting days ago. With that, the Herrerasaurus was off.

Aleu had now found the chatty lizard a good company while she had to stay safe in the cave, but Aleu was still Aleu, she couldn't hold her curiosity for so long. Today, the wolf-dog spent her time sitting in front of the back exit of the shelter and looking outside. Bard, on the other hand, couldn't stand the silence and the stillness of the mammal for more than five minutes, and that forced him to start a dialogue.

"What's so special outside, mammal?" Bard exclaimed, all out of boredom.

"Wonder what's out there. Bard," the wolf-dog called to check whether the dinosaur was listening, "Would you mind if I take a quick stroll not far from here?"

Seeing this as a way to escape from the silence of the stony cave, Bard agreed, "Go on. Let's go before Sotara comes back."

Out there, among the unseen, Aleu felt refreshed again; she sniffed things here, and sniffed out new things there. Literally, she was being like a puppy again. This was what the Coelophysis wanted, the canine was now in the manner he wanted her to be in. So, it was just like both of them had forgotten that Sotara may be back soon. The happiness temporarily wiped all the sorrow and distress pressing on the canine since the incident that brought her here away...

In search for something to eat, Sotara walked to a parched plain near the rim of the valley, the place was the path usually taken by the herd of herbivorous Plateosaurus. Unlike other predators here, the Herrerasaurus didn't come here to hunt, he just have to be the first to spot a carcass and claim it. The reason for this wasn't that he couldn't hunt, but he wouldn't want to slay someone knowing that his preys may have their own loving families who would mourn for their losses. This idea germinated in the dinosaur's mind little by little as he grew up as an orphan, who had his parents deprived from him by a pack blood-thirsty murderous beasts.

Today seemed to be his lucky day for he found a dead adult Plateosaurus, Sotara neared the body of the Prosauropod and tear a chunk of meat from it. Normally, he would prefer taking only his full back to his place, but, with another two stomachs waiting, he'd rather finish his part here in order to carry more food. As the dinosaur was about to begin, he heard a sound of footsteps, so he rose to see that those guests were of his own kind, not just a few but up to seven of them, and the one in the lead was Platinum.

"Join the pack, or regret your choice," declared the grey Herrerasaurus.

"I'm not a part of the pack now. Naga has no rights ordering me around," Sotara simply said and tried to continued his meal. Platinum, not so enraged for this was what he had predicted, charged at the seemingly unaware one. Having been in the same pack for some time, under his timid appearance, Sotara knew that Platinum would attack and was already prepared.

Without letting the other to notice his caution, the loner pretended to be eating, but stepped aside when his opponent was about to reach him, stumbled the attacker in process. As the grey one regained his balance, he was hit by the bulk of Sotara's tail. With their beta on the ground, the rest of the group lunged forward only to be stopped by Platinum himself, "Stop it right there! This is between me and him...!"

"But my beta, don't you forget the alpha's order," one of the subordinates argued.

However, the leader was so sure that he could take care of the situation, he growled at the one who gave him the warning, "Just stand back, won't you?"

Angry from being hit, Platinum rushed in to strike, series of teeth and claws were released upon Sotara. There were almost no spaces and no ways for his enemy, blocking and freeing himself from the storm of aggression demanded lots of effort, let alone fighting back. In Sotara's thought, this dinosaur had improved a lot since the last time they met. All thanks went to his swiftness, if not for that, he would be destroyed easily.

Sotara tried to focus on the duel as much as he could, looking for any gap for him to strike. "There! Large opening on his left, as always...," the brown Herrerasaurus thought, and with that, he dashed out toward the direction and quickly wiped his foe down to earth again, before the very eyes of all the watching minions.

The loner was now in the position that enabled him to kill at his need, but he decided not to. Defeated, the downed dinosaur stood up and ran away, heading for his pack, giving one short order to his followers, "Get him!" Then, all the waiting dinosaurs sprinted forward.

Farther in the distance, the grey lizard changed his destination, he was, now, running to the lone reptile's place. Part of him told him to do as Naga ordered, but part of him thought over the reason he was still alive after the event. "Am I doing the right thing?" Platinum quietly asked himself...


	7. Chapter 6: Topaz

Chapter 6: Topaz

"My! You are so much of a fun, you know?" Bard screed as he and Aleu stopped to rest after a long run. Now happy and fresh, the wolf-dog was overcame with a newfound feeling of relief and joy. Although not as much as if she could return home right then, at least she had somewhere to go back to, and someone who cared, she didn't feel so lost like before. All the joy she had had today led her farther from the cave than she was supposed to be, and that truth hit her like a boulder when she realized it.

The grey canine tried to remain calm and asked her lizard friend, "We better get back to the cave before Sotara arrive." The dinosaur, on the other hand, didn't worry about that as much, but knowing it was time, he agreed. Along the way back, the two have some pleasant talk together. At some distance away from their shelter, they saw a figure of a Herrerasaurus inside, taking the silhouette as Sotara, Bard ran all the way to the cave. But Aleu was hesitant, the scent of this one wasn't the familiar one of Sotara.

Another long while later did Bard realize the fact, he ran back to the mammal as fast as he could as he saw the greyish tone of the dinosaur. Lucky enough for both of them, they were still unnoticed, but it wouldn't be so for too long...

It was late in the evening, but the sun was still high in the Alaskan sky. The heroic wolf-dog, like those few days before, wandered aimlessly in search for Aleu; he had already looked everywhere he knew, everywhere he always spent his precious time with his precious daughter but ended up with nothing. The feeling of frustration made him want to cry, recalling those memories of Aleu did no help but quicken his tears; for the first time after the serum run, Balto was overwhelmed with fear, fear that something bad would happen, fear that there would be no chance for him to meet his beloved girl again. Many times throughout these three days, Boris found his canine boy whimpering to himself under the deck, howling all the corked up feeling out. No one who knew Balto would expect seeing him in such a condition.

As days passed, Balto's tolerance to the depression went downhill; and this time was not different, his grief forced him to stop under a large pine tree to wipe of the tears blurring his sight, and to calm himself down a bit. Suddenly, came a familiar giggle of happiness from the distance. At first, the wolf-dog was unsure if it was his mind playing trick on him, but he keep hearing the sound. He walked toward the source in order for his ears to catch more of the voice, eager to see if his Aleu was there.

A slow walk started to become a run, as he went with his sprint, the laugh became clearer. It was her, Balto knew for sure; faster than ever, he leapt, his eyes were wide opened, a smile stretched from one of his cheeks to the other. Against the air hitting his face, he called out for his wolfish child. With only a little attention from the male canine, the dense pine forest slowly became sparser, its deep-green colour gradually turned into a fresher green, yellowish tone of the sand and tropical soil eventually erased all the snow-white ground off the scene. The next time Balto looked around, he was almost sent to the ground the shock, not a single thing seemed familiar; he gazed back, but didn't find the snowy wilderness he came from. It was as if he ran across the equator within a few quick steps. A second before the dog panicked, the voice he followed grew more distinct than ever.

The laughter of Aleu came from right behind a bush not so far in front of him, the only obstruction to go was just a parched riverbed. Balto slid down the bank hastily, all the exhaustion was no more for he was just a few feet away from his daughter. The way down was quite rough for the soil didn't as dried as it seemed, it was damp and slippery. Not prepared, Balto fell down head-first onto the flat earth, covering himself with dirt.

However, it wasn't the way down that was worst, it was the way up. From the other side, little could one know how steep the bank was. Balto, with great determination, jumped with all his might but ended up falling down. Not only that all his attempts had been futile, it seemed like the wall was going steeper and taller with each failure. The great hero was exhausted, he had to stop for a moment in order to catch some air, but it wasn't so easy with the blazing sun burning from above. The hybrid started to feel thirsty, he silently wished for water. Not more than a second afterward, echoed the sound of water; not just a drop or two, but a massive bulk enough to fill the whole river he was standing in no time.

At the corner of his eye, came the great wall of brown muddy water. With a quick consideration, Balto turned and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. However, the flood was too fast; the wolf-dog was, then, swallowed and drowned... To this point, he sprang up to his relief that everything was nothing but a nightmare.

Balto didn't have so much time to be happy for his avian fosterer was there with a bucket full of water beside him. "Great! You're up already. Another second and you'll be all wet for sure," the goose was going to further nag his boychick for sure if he didn't notice the dog's exhaustion first. Boris patted Balto on his head and asked with concern, "Was it that dream again?"

"Come now, Boris. It's just a dream after all. I have to go now," the canine said with a very slight chuckle and headed to the town.

"Just a dream? For how many times you have the same dream over and over?"

"I'm not going on that conversation again."

Boris stepped in the wolf-dog's way and, with his feathery wings, pushed him back to where his blanket was. "Have some rest here. You're becoming more restless by days. I have to say I haven't been so worried about you, Balto," as the canine was about to object, the goose paused to place his wing on the dog's lips, causing him to stop, "Besides, Glace and her boyfriend are out there combing the forest for you," he finished.

At first, Balto refused to stay, giving a reason that Jenna would be very worried if Aleu couldn't be found. Boris, however, didn't give in, and pointed out that it was the hero of Nome himself that was the main issue of worry for his mate. At last, the brown wolf-dog turned back and dug under his blanket. Thinking over the fact that his boy had had a bad sleep last night, the goose let him have another morning nap as he went on his chore of mopping the deck...

The Coelophysis used his head to nudge Aleu as a suggestion that they escape as soon as they could. Aleu, on the other hand, thought that they should rather hide quietly nearby until the Herrerasaurus was gone. "All right, you hide, I'll go talk with him," Bard whispered.

"You're crazy? He'll kill you," the female canine opposed.

The thin reptile took another look at the cave to make sure that they were still unseen, he shook Aleu hard with his narrow arms and said, "Just do what I said. I know him, okay?" After a pause, he muttered, "Besides, if something happens to you, I will be killed anyway." The hybrid had no time to speak any more, she was pushed from the small rock they were hiding to a dense fern tree nearby. The crackle of twigs and dried leaves drew the attention of the grey Herrerasaurus very fast, but not fast enough to notice Aleu before she was placed behind the big tree. the only thing he saw when he looked there was a Coelophysis jogging closer to him.

"Hey, there, Platinum... Your brother changed so much, you know? I thought he was a stranger when he and another female came here a day ago. You... haven't changed that much, I must say." The swift dinosaur approached the cave, speaking to the gigantic invader with the intention to draw his attention.

The intruder didn't seem to enjoy Bard's appearance a bit, so, fed up with annoyance, he roared, "Shut up, you squeaky toy! Where's the mammal!"

"Ha! Platinum, oh Platinum. You really think Sotara and I would befriend a mammal? Come now, don't tell me you... Gaargh!" The squeaker found himself caught by the neck as the gigantic jaws clamped down. From behind the vegetation, Aleu heard the her friend suffocated; she jumped out of there and announced herself bravely. "Hey! I'm here. Let go of him!" And with all her might, she dashed away, heading to the thickest thicket she found. With that, Platinum threw the small dinosaur against the cave wall and ran after the female canine.

The impact must have cracked something in one of his legs for it took Bard extremely high effort to rise. Thinking back and forth, he found no way for himself to take Platinum on, his only solution now was to find Sotara, even if that meant he had to hobble all the way there and return...

It had been a long hour that Balto slept a dreamless sleep. Now, he woke up brighter than he had ever been throughout these few long days. Boris wasn't there, but, instead, Glace and Topaz were. Conversation between two young canines stopped as they noticed the older one awake.

Glace was the first to talk, "I heard from Boris that you've had some dreams."

The male wolf-dog, not taking those visions so much, said with soft chuckles, "He may be overacting. Dreams are...,"

"... more than they seem," the yellow wolf cut in, "Sorry for that, but I really think it means something." The young canine continued, "For us, wolves, dream is one of the ways the great beings used to communicate with us. Plus the fact Boris told us that these dreams started haunting your nights shortly before Aleu was born and the silver portal, I won't overlook them."

Balto took all said information and thought it over. He, then, decided to give it a try; starting from the very first dream about raven and wolves, to the latest dream he had last night, he explained them all to the wolf. Though raised by his shaman mother, the lone wolf had never dealt with a dream himself; to make it worse, all he remember about his former home was nothing but a vague cloud.

After asking for some time to focus on the mysterious image, Topaz headed back to his cave and spent time with himself. In the darkest corner of his cave was the yellow wolf, uttering prayers, "Oh... The great wolf, Aniu. I pray to you, lend me your power..."

"... The power to see the unseen, to hear the unheard. May the light of your wisdom pierce through the dark shadow of the unknown," the prayer continued, but this time, by a feminine voice of a wolf. Though in a cave, her light yellow coat is still visible, it was of the same shade as the full-moon in the clear night sky. Not far from her, lay a male pup, with very little darker fur, silently mimicked each and every sentence. His mother turned to tell him to go deeper in their home to sleep while she discussed some issues with the alpha female who came for her prophecies. However, little cub didn't disappear right away, he sneaked a look and listened to the whole conversations. This was what he always did, the little wolf couldn't resist the urge to witness the way his mother interpreted dreams and foresaw future.

After finishing her duty, the mother walked into the darkness of the cave, finding her son behind a rocky pillar in progress, "Topaz, you're still here?"

"Aww..., I just want to see what you do. I wonder how you do it...," little wolf whimpered. However, his sentence was cut short by his mother, "Come now, sleep."

"Mom, I have never been good at anything before. I am not as strong as the others, not as fast as the others. At least it is this thing I see you do every single day that I love. Can you teach me, please?" Looking back, Topaz was an adorable little wolf, but, maybe because he was the only pup survived last winter, he had no wolves of the same age to play with, and finally ended up being a punchbag for the older pups. That made him a quite secluded kid, with almost only his parents to trust and keep him company.

For his mother, teaching him the skill would be okay. Somehow, that would make him more accepted. Topaz was sound asleep by now, the mother went to the cave entrance and gazed upon the starry sky, up there were her and other living beings' star. With her experienced eyes, she noticed how her star had lost its glimmer lately, she may not live to see the wolf Topaz would grow up to be. Again, she thought over teaching her son the ability of hers, even if it didn't work making him a part of the pack, at the very least, she could spend her precious time with him. So, she made her decision...

Topaz himself knew too well that he hadn't even completed the lesson for his mother deceased not long after that night. Compared to his mother's, his ability didn't make it just one half. Moreover, Topaz had never use his ability for real. But he couldn't turn back now, Balto was in need for his help, and Glace had a high hope in him. With all his mind, he concentrated hard, many things came across his thought as he closed his eyes and allowed the great help from the above to do its part. "The raven, the wolves, laughters, flash flood; how could this all mean? What is it Aniu tried to tell? Is that Aleu happy there, wherever she is? And that portal, is it the plan of the great beings that Aleu be taken? ...," the yellow wolf's brain was so blank, nothing but more questions were added each minute passed.

Then, in the darkness behind his own eyelids, flashed a flare of revelation, his concentration had paid off. As soon as it happened, the canine opened his eyes, his heart swelled with glee for this was his very first time he had experienced such a thing all by himself. However, due to his sleepiness, he just gave a calm smile and had his midnight sleep. Even hours later, the smile didn't fade away, Topaz, now, attained the skill his mother tried so hard to teach him, and he knew that somewhere up there, she was looking upon him, proud...


End file.
